Swan Song
by Woodwings
Summary: This is the story of a young boy kidnapped at his mother's funeral. Mad science is involved.
1. Freedom's Demise

Swan Song

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, and I am not making any money from this fanfiction.

Until the age of five, Abyaz had lived a rather quiet life with his mother in Jubilife City, but that all changed after she died in an accident. Her funeral was on a damp and chilly afternoon in February, and Abyaz had never felt so alone in his life.

He clutched desperately at Gabriel, his mother's Togetic, for comfort as the preacher droned. He didn't know what was going to happen to him, but he knew that he didn't have any family left. He was the last Sygnus, and it hurt. He would have been wrong, however, to think that no-one cared about his plight, but he would have been better off if nobody _had_ thought much about the forlorn and soggy albino standing alone, with no-one to look after him.

A tall man wearing dull grey clothes walked over to him quietly, and put a hand on the boy's shoulder. In soft tones, he asked Abyaz if he had anywhere to go. His only response was a sniffle, and a slight shake of the head. The man smiled slightly, and told Abyaz that he worked for a company that looked after children like him, and that he'd be safe and wanted there.

The boy looked up at him with wide pink eyes. Here was a way out of his misery! He'd heard some people talking about foster care, and he guessed that this must be it. He reached out for the man's hand, and allowed himself to be lead into an old, drab brown car. Nobody noticed when they drove away.

Abyaz watched the scenery change as the car drove onwards, and he saw the city diminish on the horizon. Gabriel nuzzled into his tummy, trying to cheer him up. He lifted the Togetic so that they were staring out of the window together. As one, they watched their old life recede into the distance.


	2. You Belong to Us Now

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, and I am not making any money from this fanfiction.

When he got bored of watching the scenery, Abyaz looked around at the inside of the car. He noticed that there was a pile of sweets on the seat next to him, and reached out to grab some. Gabe poked his arm, so he gave him one first. They chewed on the lemon flavoured treats for a while, before feeling rather woozy. Boy and Togetic slumped on their seat, asleep.

The man parked next to a large building in the middle of nowhere, and a group of people wearing white lab coats came out to meet him. They carried the sedated pair through the door, and gave the man a cheque. The man took it, and drove away again.

Abyaz and Gabriel were taken into a laboratory, and strapped to a pair of tables. One of the Whitecoats extracted a blood sample from Gabriel, whilst another prepared two vials full of a clear liquid. Most of the others were attaching sensors to their new test subjects and reading what appeared on their monitors, whilst one more came in from another lab carrying a different blood sample.

A Whitecoat carefully labelled the samples, then placed them in a centrifuge. Once they were done, he extracted the genetic material and passed it to a colleague. This one took the first set of genes, and incorporated them into the virus in the vial on the left, which was passed to a man working on the boy. He then did the same with the second set of genes, and the vial on the right. The second vial was passed to a man working on the Togetic.

The Whitecoats introduced the viruses intravenously, and watched as they took effect. The boy's shoes were hastily removed, as his feet changed shape. They grew a fine covering of downy white fur, and resembled Gabriel's. Small wings emerged from his shoulders, ripping his top, while pale blue and pastel pink triangles appeared on his midsection. His hair stiffened upwards into three triangular spikes, and his physiology altered, making him more lightweight.

On the other table, the Togetic's fur began to turn pink. He grew small conical ears with brown tips, and became a little rounder. His wings started to resemble those of a stunted butterfly, and he developed a tail that would definitely look more at home on a Clefairy.

A pair of cages were brought in from the next room, and the newly altered pair were locked into them. One cage, containing Abyaz, was taken down the hallway to the right, and Gabriel's cage was taken in the other direction. Each was placed in a space on a shelf, next to a large number of others, and each was big enough for a Great Dane to stand up in.


	3. Enter Clive

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, and I am not making any money from this fanfiction.

Groggily, Abyaz eased his eyes open. The first thing he saw was bars in front of him, and that his world had been reduced to a confining space just big enough to fit in. He panicked, confused and frightened, and flailed around frantically, wings flapping like a struggling chicken's. He howled his distress to the uncaring world, but succeeded only in giving the other inmates around him a rude awakening.

Eventually, he became too tired to continue his tantrum, and just sobbed raggedly to himself. How had this happened? The last thing he remembered was eating sweets with Gabe in the foster man's car. With a start, he realised that the man had lied to him, and that Gabe wasn't there. He buried his head in his hands, feeling utterly demoralised.

"I want my Mama!" he whimpered, knowing that she was gone, but half hoping that she would sweep down from Heaven to save him. "Don't we all, kid?" came the wry response from the cage to his left. Abyaz looked up, surprised. "Wh-who are you?" he stammered, unsure if he really wanted an answer. The voice chuckled, and replied: "I'm Clive, who are you?" Relief washed through him as he realised that this person seemed friendly. "I'm Abyaz." he said, "Why are we in cages? I want to get out!"

He started to whimper again, as the cage seemed smaller than ever. "Hey now, don't cry." murmured Clive, "We're in cages 'cause the lab men want to experiment on us. What Pokémon did you get?" This last question puzzled Abyaz, who hadn't noticed any Pokémon in his cage, and he said so. His new friend sighed softly, unsure how to break it to the kid. "Tell you what, if you look to your right you'll see what I mean." explained Clive, hoping that Abyaz wouldn't freak out again.

Abyaz did as he was told, and saw his reflection in the mirror that covered the right cage wall. He stared at it in stunned silence for a while, before voicing his realisation. "Oh." Once he regained his senses, he replied to Clive's question. "I got Togetic, what about you?" His mind was racing beneath his dully calm words, buzzing with questions. How was this possible? Was this what had become of Gabriel, or was he still alive somewhere? Why would anyone do this?

His train of thought was interrupted by Clive whistling through his teeth. "Ooh, lucky! I got Muk." Despite everything, Abyaz found himself giggling. However he pictured it, that was just too funny! Clive chuckled along with his young friend, glad that he'd snapped out of his shocked state. One thing still bothered him though, and that was just _how_ young the boy sounded. He shook his head in dismay, hoping that Abyaz was strong enough to stand this place.

"Why did they do this to us?" queried Abyaz, sounding less tremulous now. Clive scratched the back of his head, none too sure of the answer himself. He shrugged, and said: "Search me. Oh, but hey, they sometimes come back to take us away and run tests on us, so don't do anything crazy. That only makes things worse." Abyaz mulled over this warning silently, not daring to ask how things could get any worse. "Okay." he said, torn between dreading the return of the mysterious lab men, and hoping that they would come and take him out of this horrible cage.

Looking out through the bars, he could see a lot of other kids that looked like Pokémon, but they were all older than him. One thing they all had in common, however, was the state of distress and despair that was written across their faces. Abyaz decided to try and cheer everyone up, because the weight of the dark mood was pressing him down. He started to sing, soft and quavering at first, but his confidence soon grew. It was a lullaby that his mother used to sing for him, about a family of Altaria living in a peaceful valley. Abyaz wasn't sure about the others, but it made him feel better.

~Author's Note: If anyone wants me to include an OC, I'm happy to. Just specify whether they are a Whitecoat or an experiment, then give me a few details. Sorry these chapters are so short, I'm still not used to this.~


	4. Feeding Time

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, and I am not making any money from this fanfiction.

Clive relaxed as much as his nagging paranoia would allow, and let the music wash over him. Perhaps this kid would do all right after all. A surly janitor made a brief appearance to turn off the lights for the night, causing Abyaz to stop singing, but there was no other human encroachment upon the scene.

As the janitor left, a sigh of relief emanated from around the cages, and an undeniable sense of reprieve showed on the weary faces nearby. Noticing this, Abyaz guessed that the lab men didn't come for them after dark. This seemed to him to be an odd reversal, as usually it was obvious to him that monsters could attack him in the dark, but were helpless if he turned on the night light. Did that mean that _he_ was a monster now? After all, he and the others were defenceless during the day, but everyone relaxed once the light went out.

His brow furrowed as he grappled with the concept. It appeared to make sense, so he stopped worrying about it. He decided that he should probably get some sleep now, as the shadows made it seem as though his cage was getting smaller, and he was likely to have a long day tomorrow. He yawned, and said goodnight to Clive. Mumbling a small prayer, he closed his eyes and let slumber claim him.

Clive squeezed his eyes shut, and when he was sure that the boy was asleep, began a prayer of his own. "Okay God, I'm not too sure if you're out there, but that little guy thinks you are. He's just a boy, and he's calling for your help, so you better not disappoint him! Do you hear me, Mister All-Powerful?" his voice grew wheezy as he continued. "I've heard tell that you like innocent folk who talk to you, is that right? Well, it better be, 'cause I've got one right here for you. Don't let them break him, or so help me, I will blaspheme in every way humanly possible!"

With a final Amen, Clive sighed again and went to sleep. None of the other recombinants said anything, hardly any of them truly believed in anything now. It was hard to, in a place like this. The only things that they knew they could trust were fear, pain, and the darkness.

When morning came, the prisoners awakened reluctantly. It wasn't as if they had a choice in the matter, as a janitor arrived and flicked the light switch, bathing the place in a cold, sterile brightness. Blinking as his eyes adjusted to the sudden illumination, Abyaz saw that a lab man had also come in, carrying a heavy looking sack. This one looked about seventeen, and was probably a student intern or an apprentice, not that it would mean anything to Abyaz.

The stranger moved from cage to cage, tossing handfuls of brown pellets into each. When he came to Abyaz and Clive, the older boy read his name tag as Peter Ronstadt, and the younger realised that the pellets were some kind of kibble. He knew that the young man was a Bad Guy, but he'd been taught that he should be polite to anybody who gave him something. "Thank you, lab man." he squeaked, making Ronstadt jump.

Clive snorted as the startled teen tripped over his own feet, before regaining his composure. This guy was obviously a bit of a klutz. That was probably why he'd been relegated to feeding duty. Clive sniggered as he wondered how many broken test tubes it had taken before Prat-fall Peter had been sent here. Ronstadt scratched his head for a moment, looking embarrassed, then continued feeding the experiments. Another lab man, an older one, was attaching fresh water bottles to the cage doors. He didn't react when Abyaz thanked him, or when any of the others glared at him.

After the men had gone, the recombinants were left in peace to eat. The kibble tasted okay, if a bit stale, so Abyaz tucked in ravenously. Clive waited for a little while, to see if anyone dropped dead or was otherwise affected by the food or drink. When it was clear that their sustenance was harmless, he ate and drank like everyone else.

It wasn't long before another goon came along. This one unlocked one of the cages, and dragged out its occupant. A hush fell across the others, as the terrified Scyther girl was lead away. "Good luck!" called Abyaz, but she didn't seem to hear him. More lab men were arriving now, each one selecting a test subject to take away with them. Clive stared feverishly at the men, his whole body tense and sweat-drenched, but his turn never came. The lab men, it seemed, had taken all they wanted, for now.


	5. Scouts?

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, and I am not making any money from this fanfiction.

Aside from feeding the recombinants, Peter had been assigned to determine whether there were any suitable for the Scout and Berserker programs. Walking into his supervisor's office, he tried to tidy his curly brown hair, and cleared his throat. Sidney, a twenty five year old woman with her sandy blond hair coiled into a tight bun, nodded for him to proceed with his report. "I noticed three specimens of interest, ma'am, the Togetic boy, the Surskit girl, and the Muk boy." He fidgeted nervously with his collar, not wanting to get chewed out for saying something stupid. "The last of those three is a textbook pre-Berserk paranoiac, and the other two have the appropriate build and temperament to be Scouts."

Sidney considered his words, then smiled at him. "Good work, Ronstadt. Tell Hirudo to take the pre-Berserk to the Mt Coronet facility, then bring the other two to my department. Peter nodded enthusiastically, unused to praise, and hurried off to do her bidding.

He rushed headlong into the corridor that he'd seen the subjects in, hoping that they hadn't already been taken for testing by someone else. If they had, he would have to search through every lab on this floor! He shook his head, that would be awful, given that he was so accident-prone. However, a quick scan of the cages revealed that all three were still there. What luck! He pressed a button on the intercom to get Hirudo on the line. Within a few minutes, the truck driving Whitecoat was listening to Peter's description of Clive, where to find him, and where to take him.

With that out of the way, Peter unlocked the cages of the Togetic boy and the Surskit girl, motioning for them to come out. Abyaz eagerly crawled out of his confinement, followed a few moments later by the slightly more hesitant girl. Both of them looked up at him, one curiously, the other calmly. He took them both by the hand, and led them down the corridor towards Dr. Sidney's department. "What's going to happen to us now?" asked the little boy, tugging at his hand. Peter looked slightly confused, as he wasn't certain about what sort of tests that his supervisor would want to run. Still, he had a general idea, so he tried to explain. "I'm taking you to my supervisor, Dr. Sidney. She's going to test you to see if you'd be good Scouts."

The Surskit girl, Jessica, was rather puzzled by Peter's words. She only knew of one type of Scouting movement, and that was the organisation founded by Baden-Powell. This was definitely _not_ that kind of Scouts. She gazed at Peter, taking in everything, from his light green eyes, to his brown hair and nervous smile. Her pale blue eyes lingering on the waves in his hair, she wondered how anyone so nice could work for people who experimented on children. Peter noticed the fifteen year old's eyes upon him and blushed, thinking that perhaps she was remembering the way that he'd fallen over his feet earlier.

He led the pair through a door into a wide room filled with equipment. Abyaz and Jessica looked around, eyes darting from place to place. A lady came over to meet them, clipboard in hand. "Are you Dr. Sidney?" asked Abyaz, looking into her warm brown eyes. She smiled at him, and waved for Ronstadt to go and attend to his other duties. "Yes I am. Now, do you see those treadmills over there? I'd like you to go over and stand by them." Abyaz smiled and nodded, this was going okay so far. Nothing like as bad as Clive had implied.

Jessica followed the little winged boy over to the treadmills, wondering when she would learn what this was all about. Dr. Sidney came over to them with another Whitecoat, each holding a needle. "I'd like you both to hold out your right arm, so that we can take a blood sample." Said the lab lady calmly. They did as they were told, and the lab man took both needles, once filled, over to a table to run tests on the blood. "Now I would like each of you to choose a treadmill, and stand on it whilst my colleagues attach some sensors to you."

Once again, they obeyed, and a pair of lab men started sticking sucker-tipped wires to their foreheads, arms and tummies. One Whitecoat put a mask around their noses and mouths, to measure their breathing. Then the lab men backed off, and Dr. Sidney told them to run for as long as they could after the machines started. The treadmills whirred into life, and quickly picked up speed. After a short while, they realised that they could now run much faster and further tan they had before.

Jessica smiled, and picked up the pace, her spindly arms and legs moving as blurs. Her frizzy black hair flopped onto her face, so she brushed it aside, her yellowed tan-brown skin beaded with sweat. Abyaz shot her a toothy grin, and followed her lead. He wasn't sure how he was managing to run like this, but he wasn't one to avoid making a game of it. Besides, it was funny watching the yellow antenna on the girl's head wiggle back and forth as she ran.

Eventually, neither of them could continue, though Jessica was clearly the fastest. Dr. Sidney made notes on her clipboard, as the exhausted pair leaned on the wall, panting. "Impressive." She commented, after viewing the collected data. "I would like to collect one more blood sample from each of you, and then you can sit down." The pair made no effort to resist, as once again the lab men descended upon them. Abyaz was distracted anyway, he was staring at the pink markings under the Surskit girl's eyes. He wondered if they had always been there, or if they were because of the experiment. Gratefully, the pair sat down on some laboratory stools. Abyaz looked towards Dr. Sidney hopefully, too out of breath to ask if they would get lollipops, which were his usual treat for being good back home.


	6. Whatever Happened to Clive?

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, and I am not making any money from this fanfiction.

Clive gritted his teeth as his cage was carried outside by a Machoke, eyes glaring furiously out through the bars. _Now _what were they doing? That Surskit girl that the bumbling buffoon had taken away with his little friend, she'd always been going on about how the lab men couldn't be completely evil, and how someday they'd be released. Bah! All one had to do was look at their situation with clear eyes. It was no good clinging on to fragile hopes as if they mattered, it only hurt you later. She would see.

His mental rant was jarred aside, as his cage was dropped into the back of the truck. When the clanging had ceased ringing in what was left of his ears, he pressed his misshaped face against the bars. It was dark in the truck, but he could see other cages, other freaks of the lab complex. One of them was scratching madly at the bars with Mightyena claws, drool falling from elongated jaws. Another just stared out with glowing eyes, as if trying to use a Psychic move against the cage, but finding no weakness. Clive wondered what would become of him and his feral truck-mates, and a cynical voice in his head whispered that perhaps they were the failures, about to be put down.

He put his purple, slime-covered hands on his head, trying to dispel the idea. Of course they weren't to be put down, that would be too easy. Besides, they could have done that in the building they'd been in. The Mightyena boy howled, and Clive felt like joining him, until someone kicked the side of the truck. It was smelly and humid inside the vehicle, and that didn't improve once it set off. The reek of fear and unwashed recombinants filled the air. The odour was bad enough that Clive could smell it through the nose that had been engulfed into his now-bulbous upper lip.

His violently orange eyes were all that remained of his original features, and he knew it. Talking to that sweet child had helped him to cope with the strain, but now that was gone the way of his curly red locks. He'd been proud of his hair, until the lab men had made it all fall out. Now he was bald, with only his ooze-covered scalp to adorn his head. It wasn't fair! None of it was fair. When he'd first been captured, he'd obsessed over escape. Everything that life had ever taught him had screamed that there had to be a way out. After realising that it was hopeless, he'd finally grasped that even if he did get out, he'd be hideous forever. He was the one screaming now.

The truck, after what had seemed like aeons, pulled up near another lab complex. A group of Machoke helped the lab men to unload the recombinants, skilfully dodging teeth and claws. Silenced by the brightness of the light, Clive muttered furiously to himself as he was carried inside. Why had that Muk chosen to appear when it did? Why couldn't the lab man who'd darted them both have taken his Charmeleon instead of that putrid mound of waste? Then, at least he'd still have had red hair. Unless, just maybe, the darter _had_ been aiming for Burnside, but had missed! _Yes_, that made sense. Who would want a Muk anyway? Wait a minute, lousy shot? This was all Peter's fault! His ruined face twisted to form a visage of maniacal loathing. Yes, Peter, who'd led away the little boy like the Pied Piper. He cackled insanely, it all made sense now. "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled prat-falls, and took the song away!"

He shook himself, now was really not the time to lose it. With a start, he realised that he was now in a lab. How had he not noticed? A lab man was pushing something long and thin through the bars, it looked like it had a sharp tip. He tried to edge away from the point, but there was no room. He felt it pierce his skin, then everything went all fuzzy. He drifted vaguely downwards into unconsciousness. He was lifted out of the cage, and strapped firmly to a table. The Whitecoats placed a tube in one of the blood vessels in his left leg, and started introducing a stream of nanobots into his body. The minuscule robots travelled throughout his circulatory system, and diffused into his muscles. There, they reworked him, making him faster and stronger. Once their primary function was complete, they remained in place, ready to immobilise the recombinant if given the correct signal.


	7. Data and a Darkened Sun

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, and I am not making any money from this fanfiction.

Clive awoke with pins and needles tingling all over, and a dull ache in his legs. His eyes began to adjust to the dim lighting, and he beheld his dingy surroundings with trepidation. He was sprawled on the chilly concrete floor of a poorly-lit basement, just in front of an imposing metal door with a small locked hatch near the base.

He sat up, and pulled back abruptly as he found himself eye-to-eye with another experiment. It was part Croconaw, and the protruding snout had distorted the other boy's former features. "Who are you?" Asked Clive, nervous, but the reptilian recombinant just stared at him oddly before shuffling off, bored. Something about the Water type's expression had been rather disconcerting, but Clive wasn't quite sure what. Looking around, he could see several others prowling the dank enclosure, though some retained more of their human features than others. A few of them were brawling, but Clive wasn't inclined to investigate that more thoroughly than was necessary.

He heard a clank from behind him, and every eye fixed itself in his direction. The others were all moving towards him now, greed playing across their faces. A Sceptile girl shoved him roughly out of the way to reveal the bowls of chow being pushed through the hatch by an unseen hand. Feeding time? How long had he been out? He knew now what had disturbed him in the Croconaw boy, for every eye around him clearly gleamed with animal madness. The boy he'd spoken to couldn't tell him his name, because he neither still had one, nor remembered what a name was. Horror rose in him, and gripped his lungs with a frozen tightness. He closed his eyes, and started chanting to himself. "My name is Clive Harnell, and I am a person!" Most of his fellows took no notice, more concerned with food.

He was startled out of his mental refuge by an outburst from another test subject, who was shaking him hard. "Eat, Stupid!" Cried the Mawile girl, with a voice harsh from long disuse. He looked up at her, and was relieved to see that though glimmerings of insanity were showing, her eyes were free of the shallow glazed blankness that haunted the visages of the other prisoners. She dropped a handful of kibble in his lap, then sat and watched him, chewing her own. When he seemed hesitant at the prospect of consuming it, she berated him. "Eat or get weak, Stupid! Weak ones don't come back!" Clive slowly began eating, puzzled by her choice of words. "Back from where?" He inquired, once she seemed placated. The girl stared at him as though he had become a small radish. "Being taken." She stated bluntly, making it clear that she would say no more on the topic.

The others had now begun to disperse, having exhausted the food supply, but the Mawile girl remained where she was. "My name is Clive, who are you?" Asked the Muk recombinant, desperate for some semblance of normalcy. She considered the query for a while, dredging half-forgotten knowledge from the recesses of her mind. "I think... Before the dark, I was Sunny." She murmured slowly, not completely certain. She sat in hushed stillness after that, no longer used to the sound of her name, if she had even got it right. Rage boiled in Clive's brain as his fear receded. He clenched his gloopy fists in furious anguish, and started pounding on the door. Neither his captors nor his fellow inmates took any immediate notice. He sat back down, avoiding the damp patches on the ground, and put his face in his hands. Sunny, seeming slightly distracted, decided to speak up. "Shouldn't hit door." She stated blandly, and Clive lifted his head to look at the other teen. "Why not?" He asked dubiously, unwilling to not at least make an effort to get out of the basement. "Might open." She responded, bitterness clouding her voice. So the door didn't lead to freedom, just to tests. Clive contemplated his hands, not for the first time, and recalled that he had no real options on the outside anyway, not as the freak he had become.

Sunny, unconcerned by the new guy's glum acceptance of her warning, began holding her glossy black hair taught with one hand, and using the claws on the other to shear it to a more manageable length. The result was far from tidy, but was less likely to get caught on things, or yanked. Her eyes were hazel, Clive noticed as he lost interest in his hands, and too large for the rest of her face. Like the Pokemon whose genes she'd been infused with, she had a long black set of crocodilian jaws dangling from the back of her head, and her skin was awash with yellow pigmentation.

The door swung open, and Sunny jumped back, hissing. A Raticate-featured youth sprung out from behind it, and bolted to the far side of the basement. The door remained open. Some of the more intimidating prisoners began herding their fellows towards it. Clive had managed to sneak a look, before Sunny pulled him away, and he'd seen another metal door. A Sneasel boy had just been pushed onto the short space of steel floor between the doors, and began to howl despondently as the closing inner doors blocked him from view. Once again, the crowd dispersed. "Clive stupid? Want get taken?" Admonished Sunny scornfully, "You stay back, do what I do." Nodding, Clive lay down, suitably chastened, and stared at the ceiling. It was dark grey, with some mottled patterns where damp had seeped through in previous years.

Once Abyaz and Jessica had recovered from their run, Dr. Sidney asked them to lie down inside some scanning machines. As the pair were scanned, images of their internal structures were displayed on nearby screens. Dr. Sidney's pen moved back and forth across the paper on her clipboard, her eyes dancing with excitement as she took copious notes from the readouts. It looked as though young Ronstadt had hit on a good idea this time, these two were ideal! She grabbed a pair of requisition forms from the desk next to her, and started filling them in. Abyaz looked nervously around the inside of the scanner, and chewed on his lip. It was too small! He hoped that this test would be over soon, so that he could get out of the cramped tube. His wings started to twitch, which disrupted the image slightly, drawing Dr. Sidney's attention. She decided to let the experiments out of the scanners, as she had collected all the data on their innards as she needed. Besides, she needed a few details from them so that she could finish filling out the forms. Pushing a button, she caused the bottom halves of the scanners to slide outwards.

Abyaz jumped out immediately, stumbling over in his haste, while Jessica clambered out with a touch more decorum. "Okay," said the lab lady, "I would like you to tell me your names, so that I can put them in your records." The Surskit girl put her arms behind her back, glancing down towards her feet, and replied quietly: "My name is Jessica Harwick." Dr. Sidney smiled at her and wrote this down, before turning to the Togetic boy. "I'm Abyaz Sygnus." he answered, "Why do you have a boy's name?" Dr. Sidney laughed, and explained to him that some names are used for males and females. "Now I would like you to tell me your ages, and when your birthdays are." she inquired primly, but not in as clipped and terse a manner as some of her colleagues might. "I'm five, and my birthday was two weeks ago." Abyaz piped up eagerly. "I'm fifteen," replied Jessica in soft tones, "My birthday is on the fourth of April." Having attained the information she desired, Dr. Sidney completed the paperwork to her satisfaction.

The Whitecoat performed a number of other tests upon the pair, some involving needles and blood samples, but Abyaz was willing to put up with that sort of thing. So long as he wasn't placed in a box or a small space of similar proportions, he would behave. Dr. Sidney walked the pair of children down a white and grey corridor, before swiping some form of security pass on a door, which opened automatically. Leading the experimental subjects through, she shut the door behind them. They were in another corridor, this one completely grey, with a row of cell-like rooms on either side. The scientist swiped her pass on two of the doors, one opposite the other, and gestured for the fusions to enter their quarters. Quietly, Abyaz and Jessica obeyed, watching as they were locked in. The doors were clear, so they could still see one another, and they had a lot more room than when they'd been kept in boxes, so they were quite pleased.

In a cell not far away from the new 'recruits', a male Dragonair teen stared at the incoming experiments. He'd been here for some time, and was used to the routine. Every so often, their supervisor, Dr. Sidney, would bring in one or two fresh faces, who would be expected to perform up to a certain standard in Scout tests, and had to be amiable, as handlers often had to work with them in conditions less strictly confined than for other captives. Being a Scout had certain benefits, such as better accommodation and food, and the chance to see the sky every so often, but the training could be taxing. The boy, whose name was Ristoril, was uncertain as to the potential of this pair. Certainly, the younger ones tended to adapt well, but there was a limit to that.


End file.
